


Be My Fever Dream (Not My Nightmare)

by mariuspunmercy



Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/M, Guilt, Not Canon Compliant, Rescue Missions, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 13:55:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21429307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariuspunmercy/pseuds/mariuspunmercy
Summary: One way or another, Nova always winds up with Adrian Everhart again.
Relationships: Nova Artino | Nightmare/Adrian Everhart | Sketch
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Be My Fever Dream (Not My Nightmare)

**Author's Note:**

> !! SUPERNOVA SPOILERS !!

Nova's heart rattled against the chains. 

She didn't think the Council actually had the guts to execute her. She'd assumed it had been nothing but an empty threat; a way of intimidating her until she confessed everything they wanted to know. 

But now she was chained with her arms above her head, only minutes away from dying. Her and Ace would go at the same time, almost immediately after being neutralized. They were really going to kill her. 

She struggled, but it was no use. The room she was in only had a door. There wasn't even windows or guards. They were confident that she wasn't getting out anytime soon. 

There were rumors going around that she'd picked up from whispers. That the 'real' Nightmare had revealed herself to Sketch and his team, proclaiming Nova's innocence and apparently giving up the helmet. 

She'd kill them all if they gave up the real helmet. But even with Nightmare showing up and literally saying that Nova McLain is innocent, the Council refused to release her because Genissa Clark said that she'd tell their secrets if she didn't get to murder her. 

It's kind of poetic, actually. 

She's going to be neutralized by the enemy that she'd stolen the powers from. Not only that, but the guards taunted her by saying that Genissa is doing everything with an icicle, and has no plans for being merciful. 

She thought back to the way Frostbite and her team had frozen Ingrid, planning on suffocating her into a false confession. Nova doubted the Council would allow it, especially because it's a public affair. 

Then again, she never imagined the Council had the guts to execute a teenage girl who's pleaded she's innocent too many times. She may not be, but her word still has to be worth something. Right? 

Her heart hammered. She'd always known the Council had their messed up ways of justice that didn't include a trial. But she never pictured a scenario where she would be the one behind bars, awaiting her sentence. 

Actually, that's a lie. It's all that ever crossed her mind nowadays. Ever since she walked into headquarters after getting the helmet, every breath she took was full of secrets. She knew she'd get caught, but never knew she'd be getting murdered along with it. 

She has to get to Adrian. She knows if she flashes a desperate pair of eyes in his direction, he'd get his dads to stop. Well, she hoped. She refused to believe that he didn't care for her at all anymore. 

Danna might not. Ruby and Oscar probably hate her. But if anyone on that team is going to be on her side, she tried to will it into the air that it's him. 

Or maybe she could reach Callum. He'd be able to do that wonder thing he does and make everyone realize that all they're doing is killing an innocent sixteen year old girl for the sake of a couple popularity votes. What's any of it going to mean when the next scandal comes along? 

"Psst, Nova.." She heard a whisper. She turned her head to the left and saw where a small door had been drawn. 

None other than Adrian Everhart stood at the foot of it, smiling at her nervously. He held a belt similar to the one she always wore as Insomnia. He kept glancing down the hall as if he were afraid of someone seeing him.

Wait… 

He turned back to her and tossed her the bracelet she missed. "I tracked down Magpie for this. Nova, I am so sorry. I'll apologize more as soon as we get out of here but we need to leave  _ now.  _ I'm not letting them kill you when your innocence has been proven."

This has to be a trick. There's no way that he just randomly decided to disobey his dads at one of their most important public events and let loose what everyone believed was a killer. 

But he walked towards her and extended a helping hand. He anxiously watched his door, a desperate plea in his eyes. "C'mon, Nova. We have to go before someone realizes that I'm breaking you out." 

He's doing  _ what?  _

"I know this probably looks suspicious to you, but I swear I'm being truthful," he continued. "I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I'm officially the worst boyfriend in the world, and I'm sorry for barely breaking you out. This is the only time it would've worked."

But how is she supposed to accept his hand when her arms are bound above her head? He must've realized this because he took is marker out of his pocket, drawing himself a saw out of the floor. 

"Cower your head," he told her as he lifted the saw like a baseball bat. He waited until she lowered her head, and he swung at the chains. They broke, shards flying everywhere as her arms dropped to her side. 

She'd been like that for what seems like hours now. She rubbed at her arms as he cut the metal that was on her hands. He grabbed her elbow as he helped her feet. Her muscles burned from the sudden movements. 

"Someone's probably noticed by now.." Adrian muttered to no one in particular. "If the door didn't do anything, then breaking off the chains definitely set off an alarm. I'm in just as much trouble as you here. C'mon, we gotta go."

"Wait a second!" This is the first time she'd talked since he came into the room, and he was clearly surprised. She grabbed her bracelet from the floor, straightening out the black and white uniform. "What exactly are your motives here?"

He glanced down the hall, then back at Nova. "I feel awful for the way I treated you while you were in there. I wasn't even gonna come today because I didn't want to see Genissa do whatever she was going to do to you. But.. this is important. Did you eat before this?"

Nova was going to tell him about the stale fish they had given her, but they were interrupted by footsteps coming down the hall. He ran to the door and closed it, grabbing her elbow to pull her closer to him. 

"I am so grounded after this…" Adrian muttered to no one in particular. He drew another door on the wall adjacent to the previous door. He pushed her through first, keeping his hand on her lower back as he guided her through the foundation of the walls. 

It grossed her out to see how many spiders and rats were laying in the walls, but what can they really do? It's the walls that no one ever went through. It eerily reminded her of the subway, and she refused to let her mind wander there. 

After running a good distance away, Adrian stopped her, putting his other hand on her forearm. Once they stopped, a rush of pain came flooding into her head, and she doubled over coughing. 

"Oh man.." He crouched down next to her, but she was appalled when she moved her hands away from her mouth and found blood stains. How…? "My dads said they injected you with some kind of… thing, I don't know. They put something in your food to make your death less painful. I don't know what it is, but…"

There goes the Council being so  _ good  _ again. It's just like them to spike her food in order to slowly kill her before an icicle was driven through her heart. 

"Oh, crap." He ran his hands through his hair. He looked back at her through this fingers. "I can't believe they'd do this, even though you're innocent. I can't.. I-"

"Adrian!" Nova shouted, putting a hand on his chest. It had the intended effect; he shut his mouth immediately. She swallowed, the feeling rough in her throat. "I know isn't ideal, but there's no way it's gonna kill me. They wouldn't do anything too crazy before the actual execution."

He calmed down at her words, nodding and trying to steady his breathing. After a beat, he said, "When my dads find out it was me who let you out, they're going to be so, so mad. We have to get away from here."

She knew he was right. Even if the Council knew she was supposedly innocent, they never had any intention of letting her walk free. Once she was sentenced, she was never going anywhere. 

They'd given her an option to save her own life, but she wasn't going to do that. She didn't know where the Anarchists or the helmet were anyways. But they must've had a plan for today. She wouldn't ruin that. 

The Anarchists have their rule; every man for himself. Survival of the fittest. They'd understand if she left to save herself. Plus, the Council would probably kill her on sight. No more beating around the bush when it came to Nightmare. 

She couldn't let Adrian get in trouble for her, either. That's not a very Anarchists thing to say, and maybe she did grow soft for the Renegades. But she's not going to let someone who's actually innocent get in trouble. 

Then again, he chose to go through with this. She never asked him to do this, and she hadn't even seen him ever since he questioned her about his mom's death. Perhaps he isn't as innocent. 

"Where would we  _ go?"  _ Nova asked. She placed a hand on the wall to stand, but her legs gave out. Stupid… Whatever they gave her. 

Adrian guided her back to the ground. "Let's skip Gatlon City for now. We'll come back, of course. I don't think your uncle would approve of you running away, and my dads are probably going to start a manhunt. But for now… Any ideas?"

She didn't. 

But one thing stayed on her mind.

"Am I really worth this?" Nova peered at him. "You rescued me with every intention of leaving behind your family and the organization you love. Why? What about me is worth it for you?"

He smiled at her. "I wasn't going to let them kill you. I haven't talked to either of my dads all week; Max either. You're not Nightmare, but you dying is… sort of me living out my worst one. If you get what I mean." He rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck, waiting for her response. 

It's so sickeningly sweet that her stomach churned even more. But she  _ is  _ Nightmare. Everyone has one. His may be losing her, but it's still her. She is his nightmare, whether he knows it or not. 

Yet she understands. If anything were to happen to him, she'd lose her mind. She doesn't have a lot of anchors to keep her tethered to reality. It's wishful thinking, but she doesn't want to lose whatever they have now. 

It's all going to be in vain anyways. She'll return the helmet to Ace, and he'll know she was guilty all along. Adrian Everhart wasn't meant for her, and their relationship was doomed from the start. He was never actually hers, no matter how much she may have fallen for him. 

"I know exactly what you mean…"

He smiled, and her heart fluttered. He has too much hope for her and this relationship. She hates to be the one to disappoint him. She doesn't know if she has the strength to let him down slowly. 

"The Renegades are looking for us at this exact second, so if we're going to make an exit, it's got to be now," Adrian said, taking his communicator off. "We'll be gone for a month. Once everything's settled down, we'll come back. My dads will be too happy to be mad! I think."

He was willing to risk it all for her. It's not like she could go anywhere else from here. She'd be discovered at first glance, and the public still knew Nova McLain as Nightmare. If they found her, they found Adrian. 

"Okay, let's do this," Nova nodded, taking his hand as he drew a trapdoor on the floor. He helped her down as she continued her coughing fit, knowing he would help nurse her back to health. 

And they ran. 

They ran away from Gatlon City, hand in hand as they went to nowhere in particular with absolutely no plan, the only thing important on their minds was the feeling of the other safely in the palm of their hand. 

**Author's Note:**

> Do I hate this?? Yes. 
> 
> Did I finish my chapter for my she ra fic?? Yes. 
> 
> Am I procrastinating editing it because it's 6k words and I don't wanna deal with it?? Yes. 
> 
> So did I write 2k words of something that barely makes sense?? Yes. 
> 
> Is it edited?? No. Not in the slightest. 
> 
> Do I have a research paper due Friday?? Yes. 
> 
> Am I aware the Council wouldn't actually do anything like this and I just wanted some angst but because my brain went 🤡 it's just a weird concept at this point?? Yes. 
> 
> Hotel?? Trivago. 
> 
> My Tumblr: incorrectrenegades
> 
> :)


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